Aim the Light

[Intro | Clock Ticking | low string ostinato | room tone | no percussion] [Verse 1 | Male Vocal | half-spoken, close to the mic, intimate] Half past seven and the laptop's still awake Two more sentences in a hundred minutes Same chair, same lamp, and six a.m. will take Whatever's left of me — and still I promise [Pre-Chorus | strings rising | clock accelerates] Tomorrow I'll be sharper Tomorrow I'll hold on I bet another morning On a tank that isn't there [Chorus | full brass | choir | wide, open, chest voice] THERE IS NO TANK NOTHING RUNNING DRY THE ENGINE NEVER STOPPED — I ONLY STOPPED LOOKING NOTHING TO REFILL NOTHING LEFT TO SPEND AIM THE LIGHT AIM THE LIGHT AT WHAT'S IN FRONT OF ME [Verse 2 | Male Vocal | tighter, industrial percussion enters] They crossed out letters, counted where the errors fell Called the difference willpower, called it fuel A headline ate the page, a bookshelf ate the headline And nobody went back to check the paper [Pre-Chorus 2 | low toms | distorted sub] Thirty-six rooms, three thousand steady hands Opened every door and ran it clean No gauge inside the body No needle. No red line. [Chorus | full brass | choir | wide, open, chest voice] THERE IS NO TANK NOTHING RUNNING DRY THE ENGINE NEVER STOPPED — I ONLY STOPPED LOOKING NOTHING TO REFILL NOTHING LEFT TO SPEND AIM THE LIGHT AIM THE LIGHT AT WHAT'S IN FRONT OF ME [Bridge | solo cello | breath | no percussion | almost whispered] A boy in the fog on the shoulder of a motorway Throwing light at a wall of white His father turns the beam down to his shoes Same light — and suddenly a road [Breakdown | percussion returns in a new meter | bass reorients | not louder] Not louder. Not longer. A palm of ground. One card in the pocket. Three seconds at the door. One breath — and the last room lets me go. [Final Chorus | Choir | Harmonies | lift to major | expansive] THERE IS NO TANK THERE NEVER WAS I AM NOT EMPTY — I AM FACING THE WRONG WAY NOTHING TO REFILL NOTHING LEFT TO SPEND AIM THE LIGHT AIM THE LIGHT AND I CAN WALK FROM HERE [Outro | choir thinning | strings sustain | breath | room tone] Feet on the floor Shoulders down Still here Still here [Fade Out]